Join the queue
Is waiting in a massive line for a meal ever actually worth it? And if so/not, then why?
Last week - as always, right? š - Camdenist posted the usual punchy, curated Friday morning list of hot events and cool places; the ones I feel you readers may well want to go check out over the weekend.
Well, did anyone try the recommended Jung Festival Kingās Cross?
From the scroll-deluge, it was clearly a huge success. But seeing as waiting in line for up to 5 HOURS was the metric, Iām not entirely sure every customer would see it that wayā¦
Unless they are a self-identified āinfluencerā, of course. In that case, the beyond-ludicrous queue - which at its peak snaked along the canal to quite comedic lengths (see below) - is exactly the kind of viral content they seek. Forget the generic crunchy chicken chomping, or oozy kimchi ān hot sauce close-ups, the comatose stares of overheated people waiting in a row for hours in the hot sun, simply to eat a spicy burger(!), is the real dynamite.
In todayās food game, āgoing viral on the socialsā is how you hope your marketing will pan out, luring in a profitable perma-stream of punters, each seemingly desperate to part with a wedge of their hard-earned cash in exchange for the chance to upload a shot of a visually compelling dish into the social media abys.
But, tickling the algorithmicly-driven herd instinct - which is apparently the jackpot - can easily tip things into overdrive. And the enthusiastic campaign of the Jung Festivalās organisers proved way too effective for itās own good.
āIt was literally a turnout beyond our imagination,ā says the event promoter, Rollin Lee, in an awkward-but-enlightened post, following the queue carnage which dominated last weekend.
His deft manipulation of online foodie trend-whoring types (and some very nice other people too, of course) with all things Korean, pulled in far more day trippers than the Canopy Market food trucks could possibly contend with. Itās a nice problem to have, especially if some of those very people actively want to showcase āThe Queueā, (as many did) but clearly things were stretched to the limits of operational security.
It highlights a real dilemma of the attention economy, as experienced at the local level. If weāre told that grasping for global-scale trends or hooks is the secret to success, how do we manage the fact that driving huge like/share counts can quite obviously brim over to uncomfortable numbers of customers, confusion and complaints?
Wandering past the now-standard queues outside Camden-based restaurants like Dim Sum Duck, Swiss Butter and (pioneers of the genre) Dishoom, I canāt help but feel a little uncomfortable at the gleeful uniformity of the patient waiting experience.
Are these customers perched at the cutting edge of restaurant culture when stood in that line-up? Or are they more like suckers in plain sight, hoodwinked into a lengthy commercial transaction, for which they are encouraged to provide free promotion, too?
Itās really down to whether you enjoy standing in the damn line, which has become a real world social experience of value to many in todayās atomised society. And thereās really no denying (from daily visual evidence) that thousands of tourists actively want to spend a chunk of their London city-break standing in the drizzle waiting for some fried potatoes squirted with gloopy sauce at Funky Chips on Chalk Farm Rd.
Targeting this video-based promotional juggernaut is clearly a very decent business decision for some, especially when you spot that a nominally identical (perhaps a lot better) kitchen can languish in obscurity nearby if they donāt ratchet up their own TikTok cheese-pull game.
All this makes āThe Queueā a nuanced cultural phenomenon to hold an firm opinion about. Eager lines of customers, interacting socially, and generating wild turnover success are fantastic news for beleaguered hospitality venues and lonely Londoners/visitors alike. But food-lovers also need to remember why they are driven to such extremes - five hours?! As was pointed out in the BTL fury of people who didnāt get into the Jung Festival at the weekend, most of the operators there have restaurants fairly nearby where you can eat the same food another night of the week.
If, as many commentators have suggested before me, that thereās an element of āpeacockingā in joining, then documenting, the queue, (see David Beckham winning at filing past her Majesty alongside the plebs), and one which is more affordable than securing a table at a two Michelin-star Mayfair affair (most of the queues youāll encounter are for street food), then hey, letās celebrate it as a cultural artefact of its own.
But if it is simply down to lots of suggestable people being fed the same hype at the same moment, the we should actively fight The Queueā¦ by going somewhere different.
Otherwise, basing what and where you eat around your next Insta story, work blag or trend-driven burger lust, does not a satisfying meal out make.
REVIEW
Rum makes everything spicy
As some of you know, I tend to end up finishing writing Camdenist quite late on a Thursday night, against my better judgement. This week, the reason Iām burning the post-midnight oil is down to a little visit to Rum Kitchen on Inverness St.
Itās the new Caribbean party joint from the longstanding Cottonās crew, serving up seriously juicy jerk chicken and assorted bites like salt cod fritters and oxtail croquettes, which we happily wolfed down with various cocktails.
The venue is mighty loud, making meaningful chat quite hard, but overproof aged rum concoctions like the Rude Boy and the watermelon and vodka punch Sunset Bay can sure smooth out the jarring edges fast. By 8pm the place was jumping, and itās a nice reminder of what fun there is to be had on that strip, full of the kind of spots youād find fantastic if you were on holiday - so a great quick escape from the daily grind to remember for locals, too.
The restaurant is in the former Bar Vinyl, scene of many a raucous music-led night in Camden Town a very long time ago. Those rum drinks and the soundtrack might do a good job of temporarily transporting your mind to the sunkissed West Indies, but your soul will very much feel at home.š¹
š The One-Click Poll
How long would you queue for food youāre desperate to try?
4-5 hours - hey, the queue is all part of the experience and it provides a great time, too
1-2 hours - if you want Londonās hottest dishes, you need to be invested
10 minutes - there are hundreds of other options, so Iāll just go elsewhere
As ever, please do leave a comment after voting (or simply reply to this email) - would love to hear your thought on this!
Last week, it was a simple, but potentially provocative punt: Does public art move you?
Yes! Iām a big fan of random encounters with creativity, even if I donāt always like what I see
š©š©š©š©š©š© 75%
No! Itās mostly over-conceptual, self-indulgent or plain ugly for me
ā¬ļøā¬ļøā¬ļøā¬ļøā¬ļøā¬ļø 16%
Maybe! Iām no art expert, but I like colourful things, so I suppose I like public art
ā¬ļøā¬ļøā¬ļøā¬ļøā¬ļøā¬ļø 9%
And some of your commentsā¦
š£ļø āIām bad at predicting what I will like - and itās good to bypass the cultural gatekeepers sometimes.ā
š£ļø āBig fan of the Kingās Cross swing (aka identified flying object) which feels like an icon that Iām back home, and Iām forever proud of that.ā
š£ļø āThe gravity-defying Conrad Shawcross thing at the Francis Crick is phenomenal and moves me every day, on my bus back from work.ā
CAMDEN CURATED
Check theseā¦
FOOD: š„ While the concept of a pink-hued, sourdough-focused Insta-girlie lockdown spinout bakery might jar a few purists, you canāt argue that Sourdough Sophia has smashed it when it comes to selling prime pastries and loaves in destination retail hubs. Her latest outpost is - where else, really? - on the bakery and cafĆ© mile of Primrose Hillās Regentās Park Rd. It opens fully today, and the first 100 of you through the doors after they open at 8am get a gift worth Ā£30 - so go. Now!
MUSIC: šļøAs part of the Soho 73 photography exhibition we tipped you last week, famed film, stage and TV actor Ben Miles; Simon Lee, of acclaimed Nu Disco outfit Faze Action; and exhibition curator and DJ Ben Osborne of Noise of Art and Slack City Radio, bring the travelling post-disco vinyl night and radio show, White Trash, to Sohoās much-loved Berwick Street boozer The Blue Posts on Sat 9th May, with free entry.
DRINK: š» Despite a calendar of sold-out āDesiā party events later in the month, these are the final days of Kingās Cross micro-brewery Babel Beer House, who have announced that they will closing for good on Sun May 18th. Itās therefore a last chance to catch this bright and airy beery space, before it becomes something else. Following the similar failure of Little Creatures on the same spot, that might not involve brewing beer - but you never knowā¦
MUSIC: šŗ The prolific DJ crew Dig It Soundsystem are celebrating the reopening of The Star pub in Chester Rd on Sat 16th May with one of their classic local backroom boozer hoe-downs.
COMEDY: šMidweek laughs in Kingās Cross are assured at Comedy Freaks stand-up night on Wed 13th May at 26 Caledonian Rd, for another big line-up - and check out the drinks deals too.
MUSIC: š¢ļø Youāll enjoy a night of roots reggae with the rare London appearance of Virgin Islandās legends Busspipe and Tippy I at The Jazz Cafe this Sun 10th May.
FOOD: š· Cult lunchtime destination, The Yellow Bittern, on Cali Rd is opening for dinner service the very first time tonight. Youāll need to book ahead, but they promise a summer-long season of single seatings, copious wines and effervescent conversation, so well worth your commitment.